Data protector

ABSTRACT

A data protector comprising a card sized for covering data recorded on a side of a data carrier of the type having an aperture for receiving a spindle of al disk drive, includes a plurality of circularly arranged spaced resilient protrusions extending from a generally flat side of said protector. The protrusions are radially inwardly bendable for insertion and retention in an aperture of a data carrier such as a business card, a trading card or the like to retain the protector on the data carrier with the generally flat side of the protector covering the data recorded on the data carrier.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY

[0001] None

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates in general to the protection ofdata which may be stored on tracks conventionally recorded onto compactcircular plastic disks or rectangular cards or data carriers of otherformats and shapes including, but not limited to, protection of dataformats such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and the like. The data may compriseoptically or magnetically recorded data.

[0004] 2. Prior Art

[0005] Data carriers such as compact disks containing optical ormagnetic recorded data are typically packaged and stored in rigidplastic holders and the increasingly popular rectangular data storagecards of business card or trading card size are often packaged andstored in transparent flexible plastic bags since rigid cases are toobulky, unattractive and expensive. Rectangular cards are increasinglyused for optically storing data such as photographs containinglikenesses of sports and music celebrities or automobiles and the like,for collection and exchange.

[0006] Large volume printing of cards containing recorded data andprotectors for the cards is difficult due to mounting protrusionsrequired for holding the protectors in position for high speed printing.Also, since visual decoration is desired on the outer surface of theprotector, holes which extend through the protector should be avoided.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide adata protector which avoids the above drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention accordingly provides a data protectorcomprising a card sized for covering data recorded on a side of a datacarrier of the type having an aperture for receiving a spindle of aldisk drive, said protector including a plurality of circularly arrangedspaced resilient protrusions extending from a generally flat side ofsaid protector, said protrusions being radially inwardly bendable forinsertion and retention in an aperture of a data carrier to retain saidprotector on said data carrier with said generally flat side coveringsaid data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the data protector.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0011]FIG. 3 is a cross sectional elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the protector of FIG. 1.

[0013]FIG. 5 is a card having data recorded thereon.

[0014]FIG. 6 is a plan view of a second embodiment of a data protector.

[0015]FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] A data protector 1 comprising a first embodiment of the inventionas shown in FIGS. 1-4 and comprises a generally flat card 2 preferablymade of plastic such as polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), ABS resin orpolypropylene or of cardboard. The card 2 has generally flat upper andlower sides A, B and a generally cup shaped attachment member 3generally centrally located on the card. The attachment number 3 iscomprised of a plurality (four are shown in this embodiment) ofcircularly arranged spaced resilient protrusions 5 spaced apart byspaces or slits 4. The resilient protrusions 5 are radially inwardlybendable for attachment to a data storage card such as an optical datacard (FIG. 5) having a circular central aperture 11 used for receptionof a spindle of a disc or card drive. The spaced protrusions 5 are sizedand spaced and are radially inwardly bendable for insertion andretention in the aperture 11 to retain the side A of the data protector1 in face-to-face relationship with a side of the data card 10 havingdata 10A such as optical data recorded thereon.

[0017] As best seen in FIG. 3, the spaced protrusions 5 are angledupwardly and outwardly from the upper side (as viewed in FIG. 3) A ofthe protector 1 at an angle in the range of 10-15° from a vertical lineperpendicular to the generally flat side A. The attachment member 3 maybe integrally molded with the flat card 2 but is preferably formed as aseparate part as seen in FIG. 3 which may be mounted in a recess 6 inthe upper surface A of the data protector card 2 by either a press fitso that the attachment member 3 may be easily removed from the card 2 orthe attachment member 3 may be moved or otherwise bonded to the uppersurface A of the card 2 or positioned in the recess 6 if provided.

[0018] A central boss 2 having an upper finger engagement surface 22 isalso preferably provided on the upper side of the data protector card 2or, preferably, the boss 20 is integrally formed with the attachmentmember 3 which in turn is subsequently assembled to the card 2 by gluingor interference fit in the recess 6. The generally flat fingerengagement surface 22 may be pushed to easily remove the data protector1 from a data card 10 to which it has been affixed. As seen in FIG. 4,the lower side B of the data protector card 2 may be printed with adecorative design 7 including pictures, letters 8 and numerals 9 asdesired.

[0019] The second embodiment of the invention as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7also is comprised of a generally cup-shaped attachment member 3 havingsix spaced upwardly angled protrusions 5 spaced apart by spaces or slits4. As in the embodiment seen in FIGS. 1-4, the spaced protrusions 5 areupwardly and outwardly angled in the range of 10-15° from the verticalfor the major portion of their length. The embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7also includes inwardly tapered upper ends 5A on each of the spacedprotrusions 5 to assist in inserting the ends of the protrusions 5 intothe mounting aperture 11 for attachment of the protector 1 to an opticaldata card 10 as previously described.

[0020] Similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the cup-shaped attachmentmember 3 shown in FIG. 7 may comprise an integrally formed member whichin turn is glued or press fit into a recess 6 in the upper surface ofthe protector card 2 provided for that purpose. Although the embodimentof FIGS. 1-4 is shown having four equally spaced circularly disposedprotrusions 5 and the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown having sixequally circularly spaced protrusions 5, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the exact number of spaced protrusions 5 can vary inpractice because as few as two protrusions have been found acceptablefor firmly holding the data protector 1 in face-to-face engagement withthe data carrying side of an optical data card 10. The protrusions neednot be equally sized nor equally spaced although this is of coursepreferred.

[0021] The vertical extent of the protrusions 5 above the upper surfaceA of the data protector card 2 as seen in FIGS. 2 is preferablysubstantially the same as the thickness of an optical data card 10 towhich the protector 1 is to be attached. Also, the size and shape of theprotector 1 will be selected to be of complementary size and shape tothe data card 10 to which it is to be affixed. Thus, protectors 1according to the present invention can be made in sizes to correspondwith typical business cards or in slightly larger sizes to correspondwith typical trading cards.

[0022] The positioning recess 6, if provided in the data protector 1,can be formed when the flat card 2 is produced by a stamping operationor the positioning recess 6 can be subsequently formed in any suitablemanner in the surface of the data protector 1. Those skilled in the artwill also understand that the data protector 1 can be formed of materialsuch as a rigid paper or cardboard. Preferably, the decorative side B ofthe data protector is printed after the positioning recess 6 has beenformed in the side A although this is not essential.

[0023] The data protector 1 may also be provided with an electronic chiphaving exposed electrical contacts or any other type of chip capable oftransmitting information to a computer may be embedded in the protector1 thus forming a “smart card”. Although the described embodiments showprotectors in the form of generally rectangular cards 2, clearly whenthe data card 10 has a different shape, the protector 1 can be formedwith a complementary shape. Since the data protector 1 has no centralaperture or hole, it can be configured during manufacture according tothe various shapes desired for the data storage card 10 with which theprotector 1 will be used. The outwardly angled resilient spacedprotrusions 5 hold the data card 10 firmly in place and thus protect thedata 10A recorded thereon from damage and soiling.

[0024] When the data protector 1 is attached to a data storage card 10,the total thickness of the assembly is merely that of the flat card 2added to the thickness of the data storage card 10. This allows a numberof data cards 10 and attached protectors 1 to be closely stacked forstorage.

[0025] When the cup-shaped attachment member 3 is removably affixed inthe recess 6 of the card 2 as by an interference fit, the attachmentmember 3 can be easily removed from the card 2 and the card 2 can thenitself be used as a trading card or business card to be carried in awallet. Printed scenes, items, text, etc. which may be provided on thelower side B of the flat card 2 are totally visible since no holesextend through the card 2.

[0026] Finally, it will be appreciated that the data protector 1 can, ifdesired, also be used to store information, either in embedded memory orchips as mentioned above and/or in the form of data such as optically ormagnetically recorded data on the surface of the protector 1.

[0027] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that variousadditional modifications of the preferred embodiments of the inventiondescribed above may be made without departing from the teachings hereinand that the scope of protection is defined by the claims which follow.

1. A data protector comprising a card sized for covering data recordedon a side of a data carrier of the type having an aperture for receivinga spindle of al disk drive, said protector including a plurality ofcircularly arranged spaced resilient protrusions extending from agenerally flat side of said protector, said protrusions being radiallyinwardly bendable for insertion and retention in an aperture of a datacarrier to retain said protector on said data carrier with saidgenerally flat side covering said data.
 2. The protector of claim 1,wherein said protrusions are angled upwardly and radially outwardly fromsaid side of said protector.
 3. The protector of claim 1, wherein saidprotrusions angle upwardly and outwardly from said side of saidprotector at an angle in the range of 10-15 degrees from a lineperpendicular to said generally flat side.
 4. The protector of claim 3,further comprising a boss on said side of said protector, saidprotrusions being circularly positioned around said boss, said bosshaving a finger engagement surface spaced from said side of saidprotector.
 5. The protector of claim 4, wherein said protrusions andsaid boss are formed on a cup shaped member, said cup shaped memberbeing retained on said side of said protector.
 6. The protector of claim5, further comprising a recess in said generally flat side, said cupshaped member being retained in said recess.
 7. The protector of claim6, wherein said cup shaped member is removably retained in said recess.8. The protector of claim 5, wherein said protrusions taper radiallyinwardly at ends of said protrusions remote from said generally flatside.
 9. The protector of claim 5, wherein said protrusions comprisefour circularly spaced protrusions of similar size.
 10. The protector ofclaim 5, wherein said protrusions comprise six circularly spacedprotrusions of similar size.
 11. The protector of claim 5, wherein saidprotector is of rectangular configuration, said protrusions beingcentrally located in said rectangular configuration.
 12. The protectorof claim 11, wherein said protrusions extend from said sideapproximately the same distance as the thickness of a data carrier.